EDITORIAL: The time for answers is now

Drawing a simple line on a page could possibly change the direction of a child’s life.

We’re at the end of our four-part series, “Under the Gun: A Time for Answers,” and this week we have attempted to find solutions to the ongoing crime problem that has seemingly gripped Norristown for too many years to count.

“Crafting Solutions” is our final installment. While we have produced series on crime in the county seat in the past, they were mostly focused on how bad things had become. We wanted this series to be different.

We wanted to find answers, and we believe, if attention is paid, and helping hands are offered, the solutions we have put forward might just be the cure Norristown has been searching for.

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The arts can play a major role in forming a child’s future.

With two theaters in town, a thriving community art center and a burgeoning arts council, residents should be doing as much as humanly possible to make sure these bastions of hope for our youth have the support they need to continue their work for years to come.

Please take a moment to go back and read the story on the impact the arts can have on a community attempting to revitalize itself if you haven’t already done so.

The companion piece takes a look at what has become commonly known as the broken window theory, and converts it into a model for police. In short, a broken window left broken will lead to more windows being broken, and eventually more vandalism and perhaps harsher crimes. Take the concept of fixing the window and convert to a model police can use. In this piece we hear from a former police chief who did just that. By cracking down on traffic violators, his small town came to make arrests for drugs, burglaries and potential crimes not yet committed. There is the fear of taking this type of policing too far, but we have confidence the Norristown Police Department can do so with an even hand.

Norristown has been in this crime-ridden, economic slump for far too long.

Now is the time for answers, and more important, now is the time for action.